Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE concludes its fall season with a program that flexes the company’s versatility

• By drediman
• November 5, 2025
• No Comments

This past weekend, American Ballet Theatre concluded its fall season at the David H. Koch Theater with a program that flexed the company’s versatility. The evening commenced with the season’s sole world premiere, Juliano Nunes’s Have We Met?! Set to a moody if somewhat generic score by Luke Howard, the loosley narrative work is only occasionally compelling, as if still in the process of being fine tuned. The opening cast included the handsome duo of Hee Seo and Isaac Hernández, who did their best to bring specificity to the vaguely tragic romantic couple that opens the ballet. The second half takes place in a bright speculative future in which a second couple — assumingly the reincarnation of the first (played by a sparkling Catherine Hurlin, paired with a sturdy Daniel Camargo) — meet and romance to a much happier conclusion. Throughout, Nunes’s choreography is dynamic, trick-heavy, if a tad derivative in its use of the corps. Perhaps the most memorable aspect about the piece are Youssef Hotait‘s striking sets, which are dominated by artfully suspended visual depictions of both the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Brodge.

By far the highlight of the bill was the return of Serenade after Plato’s Symposium, Alexei Ratmansky’s choreographically articulate and gorgeously dynamic pierce for a nearly all-male cast set to Leonard Bernstein’s composition of the same name. Choreographed in 2016, the work is just as fresh nearly a decade onwards, featuring the return of Herman Cornejo, James Whiteside, and Calvin Royal III — each brought playful familiarity to their performances — to the roles they originated, as well as a number of younger dancers making their debut in the ballet. All but stealing the show was the superlative up-and-coming young dancer Takumi Miyake, whose charisma, effortless power, and sensational style induced thunderous ovations from the audience. As if to appease the families at the Saturday matinee I attended, the program concluded with Act III of Sleeping Beauty. As staged by artistic director Susan Jaffe (the staging is not to be confused with Ratmasky’s lavish, meticulously researched version for the company), the dancing was intentional throughout, resulting in some noticeably slow tempos. As Princess Aurora and Prince Désiré, respectively, Hee Seo and Cory Stearns were regal but lacked a bit in the personality department. Perhaps best of all was Elisabeth Beyer as Princess Florine (opposite Sung Woo Han’s lofty Bluebird), whose exquisite classical technique was a highlight of the piece.

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AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE
Dance
David H. Koch Theater
2 hours, 30 minutes (with two intermissions)
Closed